India could be ready to participate in a US-led ‘‘stabilisation force’’ for Iraq, except that Washington’s label as an ‘‘occupying power’’ is getting in the way.External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha is likely to offer assistance for Iraq to his US counterpart Colin Powell when they meet in Moscow tomorrow morning, but sources point out that it would be helpful if the US could also invoke the UN in administering that country.‘‘India could say yes depending on what Powell tells us,’’ highly-placed sources here said. Sources also pointed out that India’s participation in the UN-led relief effort in Iraq was underway, with New Delhi organising a field hospital to be sent there.But the Government has been split down the middle for the past two weeks since US and British diplomats formally invited New Delhi to participate in a ‘‘stabilisation force’’ for Iraq. India, Pakistan and the Philippines are the only three nations to be invited from Asia.While one section feels that New Delhi could easily participate in the UN-led effort which is also responsible for ‘‘civilian’’ issues like water, sanitation, electricity, etc, another section is vocal about not being ‘‘led by the nose by an occupying power like the US.’’The fact that the Government has managed to stave off an outright rejection of the Anglo-American invitation only goes to show that New Delhi continues to grapple with the morality question vs the reality of the superpower on the ground.Finally, New Delhi seems to have arrived at a compromise: If the UN could be involved even in some indistinct way in the formation of the ‘‘interim government’’ in Iraq, that ‘‘fig leaf’’ would be enough for India.India is now urging the Americans to somewhat amend its resolution in the UN last week, pointing out that it would be far easier for the rest of the world to acquiesce to its demand. New Delhi also knows that the US-UK coalition force would like to broaden the agenda by involving other countries from Asia.Prime Minister Vajpayee’s invocation of Iraq in Parliament last week as an ‘‘example’’ of how powerful nations can render the UN a toothless body has gone a long way in persuading New Delhi to offer what support it can to the US.Certainly, the PM was said to be quite upset with Sinha’s ‘‘pre-emptive strikes’’ against Pakistan statement in Parliament on the lines of what the US has done in Iraq.The US proposal to send a division-level force, as reported in The Indian Express on the weekend, is believed to have been made at the highest levels in government, both here and in Washington.It also cropped up in the conversations between National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra and the US side in Washington last week.Sinha will also get the Russians to brief him on this issue, and although Moscow is so far holding out on a US lead over the UN in administering Iraq, analysts here believe that an ‘‘economic quid pro quo’’ could sway the Russians over to Washington’s side.
